NEWS: Linux appeal grows among researchers, corporations

[Frederick Noronha <fred@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

LINUX APPEAL GROWS AMONG RESEARCHERS, CORPORATIONS
The open source Linux operating system continues to gain
followers in both the business and academic communities.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign officials
announced that the institute would soon introduce 600 IBM
computers running Linux. The computers will compose two
clusters, each with processing power 2,000 times greater than a
desktop PC. Meanwhile, Kemper Insurance reports that its Web
site has yet to go down since the installation of a Linux
operating system. Linux proponents say the software, created by
Linus Torvalds 10 years ago, is very cost-effective, because users
do not have to pay licensing fees. Also, because the code is
open to all, users can modify it to fit their specific needs and
can also catch bugs that may have gotten past the original
developers. (Chicago Sun-Times Online, 23 January 2001)